Why Dual Language?
Have you ever felt so small that your entire world might fit on the end of a pencil? I never really considered that my world was small until I became the principal at dual language school fifteen years ago. The dual language program began as a 50-50 two way English-Spanish program ten years prior to my school leadership. It was not until I became principal that I learned A LOT about dual language. My journey has taken me on many paths- instructional leader, parent educator/advocate, parent and political advocate. Each of these areas has taught me that I don’t want to work outside of dual language settings. Everything I believe about student success, family engagement and equity is found in a well implemented dual language setting. I can honestly say that watching dual language unfold over fifteen years as a school principal transformed me and what I know is possible in public schools.
I wish someone had told me to make a video and a one page summary about “why DL” so I wouldn’t have to repeat myself 800 billion times. If I had a dollar for every time I have given the elevator speech about why/how dual language, I could have retired long ago. As a dual language leader, I constantly found myself being asked why should a school have dual language, why should I enroll my child, why should I teach in this school, why should I support the school differently, etc. Of the two minute elevator speech, ninety seconds was the same content and thirty seconds was audience specific. At first, I did not know what to say. I would say things like, “research says long term it is really great for students and their achievement” but I did not know the real why behind it or more details. After I started reading, I developed a larger base of research to guide what I said. Here is a series of books that I read initially. This is by no means a conclusive list as there are many amazing books out there about dual language education, many of which I have not read. I am just sharing those that helped me along the way in solidifying the why for my elevator speech.
Recommended reading for new leaders
In crafting what I needed to say about dual language, one thing that I did was listen to what other leaders were saying. When I was lucky enough to attend a dual language conference (which was not often), I was on the edge of my seat, thinking, “Wow, I’m not alone in this adventure of dual language and other people are just as passionate and struggling with the same challenges and have similar celebrations”. I also learned to listen to what people were really asking me. Parents really wanted to know if their child was going to be OK. Would they learn enough English to be successful in middle and high school? Other principals wanted to know why they should lose Title I slots in their school so students could attend the dual language program- was it really the best program for them? Central office wanted to know if we were going to get results (while not creating more work for already overworked staff). I didn’t have many of those answers but over time I learned what to say and could read people’s faces when they got it like I did.
I remember showing parents the famous Thomas and Collier graph (see below). I finally understood what the various program models were, most of which North Carolina does not have. I could share with families whose children were English Learners the benefits of dual language over time. I was able to integrate that new information with what I knew about the primary grades learning to read versus the intermediate grades reading to learn and where dual language acquisition and support more deeply developed a child’s literacy and content simultaneously. I also remember a lecture that was given by Thomas and Collier at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. I remember Dr. Thomas sharing his research through hundreds of thousands of data sets comparing multiple “intervention” and research based programs. He kept saying over and over again that dual language is the only research based program that closes the achievement gap by more than fifty percent for language learners. He had slide after slide after slide. There was nothing to refute. I left that day thinking, if this is so powerful, why isn’t everyone doing this. Then I remembered Dr. Collier saying “ a well implemented dual language program will yield these results”. As part of my elevator speech, I added a line or two about dual language being like medicine. A doctor has some medicine to give you and medicine A (pull out ESL) is OK and you will feel 50% better. The doctor also has medicine B (collaborative ESL and sheltered strategies) and you will feel 75% better. The doctor also has medicine C (a well implemented dual language program) that will make you feel 100% better. While these #s and % aren’t “real” in research, they were excellent in getting the point across for families. What medicine would you want for your child long term? The very best one available of course.
The infamous Thomas and Collier graph
For English speaking parents, the conversation tended to be longer and more frequent. The conversation started with what is the day like, what happens if my child doesn’t understand, will my child still get gifted education services. As we crafted parent training, we focused more on the research and the visual from Participate (see below) about the benefits of the bilingual brain was very helpful.
Downloadable in multiple languages- link
We simulated a lesson with realia, TPR, oracy, vocabulary and writing so parents could see instruction and the level of rigor. I began to collect articles for parents about the benefits of being bilingual (a few are listed below).
Benefits of Being Bilingual Articles
BBC- https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160811-the-amazing-benefits-of-being-bilingual
US Department of Education-https://www2.ed.gov/documents/early-learning/talk-read-sing/bilingual-en.pdf
Psychology Today- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201807/beyond-words-the-benefits-being-bilingual
New York Times- https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-of-bilingualism.html
ASHA- https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/The-Advantages-of-Being-Bilingual/
Ted Talk- https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-speaking-multiple-languages-benefits-the-brain-mia-nacamulli
As time moved forward, I learned more and more. Beyond the 2 minute elevator speech, I was able to provide more and more detail. The next series of readings are below. The red book by Thomas and Collier features data and research from North Carolina. I was asked to contribute to the Administrators Speak book and the Why Dual Language Schooling book is a concise book that is great for boards of education or someone who needs a short read about ‘why dual language’. More and more questions arose about special education and the Dual Language Development and Disorders book is a great resource. They also have online training that goes with the book for an additional fee.
Recommended books part 2
I never made an elevator video or a Q & A for a school website, but when I started teaching a leadership for Dual Language course at East Carolina, the products for administrators is a short video about why dual language and a webpage with basic questions and answers for the community. As each cohort comes through, I remain envious that these leaders have a short video that summarizes why dual language for their families and other stakeholders and Q & A webpages. Here are samples from amazing leaders in North Carolina.
As a dual language leader, I constantly faced teachers, parents and community members who shared concerns from blatant “we should only speak English in North Carolina” to “I am worried that kids with low language/living in poverty, etc are not doing well in school”. While I will admit that I am not political and probably don't know how to navigate those waters well, I think we provided answers and responses to every question that came from parents, teachers and the community. It requires passion and resilience because so many challenges will come. Every job/program in public education has challenges. If we are going to problem solve and work as hard as we are working, why not do it for programs that will really serve all children well and prepare all our students for the 21st century? So my answer to why dual language is “Why not?”
Images from presentation by Ofelia Garcia, The City University of New York
